A van, 5 kids, 2 DVD players, lots of food, and 2 parents

Well I guess it is time I updated everyone on the Oregon Thanksgiving trip. First off we had a ball, and want to thank our Oregon relatives for a great time. We started off to Oregon on Tuesday night. I had packed lunches for eating in the car so we wouldn't have to stop. Everyone was very happy to start eating. Most of the gang wanted to eat about 10 min. into the trip. I said no not until we get to the airport at least. Julia and Henry went right to sleep and we had a pleasant drive. We stopped in Redding for gas and potty. The kids watched videos and the drive was very uneventful. We spent the night with my parents in Weed. That was a very good thing because I don't think we could've gone much further that night. The next day we woke up and there was ice on all the cars. Macie and I were wearing capris. I had forgotten to take into account how high we were. Macie rode with Grandma and Pa the rest of the way to the Oregon homestead. We only stopped once for a potty break and then to eat right before we went to the relatives.

There were so many relatives that people were staying in hotels, guesthouses, trailers, extra bedrooms, and bunking down with the kids.

On Thanksgiving we went to some friends of my Aunt. They have a building on their property that is like a grange. We had a fire, food, drinks, visiting, a gift exchange, and fireworks. We even had the traditional Mama and the Papa's CD while cleaning up. I usually help with all the clean up and am involved with the prepration, but with the Gang I have I was very busy keeping up with Matthew and everyone else.

We visited all day Friday and drove home Sat. The kids did really well. We only stopped for one meal, gas and potty. When we got gas in Ashland we got ripped off. You see, in Oregon they fill the tank for you. We asked the cheap gas, but somehow we got the $3.89 gas. ?????!!!!! We ened up getting 350 miles on that tank. So now Tom thinks maybe we need to buy the super expensive gas for better gas miliage. We are in the middle of the first tank about town experiment. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Anyway here we are back at home getting ready for Christmas. We will be getting our tree on the 15th and our house is decorated for the season. Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Grandma and Henry

The kids waiting to open their gift

Great-Great Uncle Charles, Charolotte and Henry